we don't even realize how much of a police state the united states has become a former cia officer who blew the whistle on america's torture program and is now waiting to serve two and a half years in prison talk starting about what he believes is behind his sentence . as the french dubbed its military operation in mali a success we bring you some chilling stories from the three week long battle against islamist. and syria is threatening to retaliate for an israeli air strike inside its territory while its ally iran says they'll be repercussions over the attack.

from our studios in moscow you're watching archie with me and he said no way straight to our top story this hour a former cia officer turned whistle blower sentenced to two and a half years behind bars is waiting to start his jail jail time johnny kuria col is the first official to publicly confirm the agency's use of waterboarding and condemn it as torture and was convicted for revealing a covert officers identity to a journalist although in one of his final interviews before being locked away he told r.t. his crime was simply speaking out against the government. first of all my case was not about leaking my case was about torture when i blew the whistle on torture in december of two thousand and seven the justice to department here in the united states began investigating me and never stopped investigating me until they were able to patch together. charge and force me into taking a plea agreement and i'll add another thing to when i took the plea in october of

last year the judge said that she thought the plea was was fair and appropriate but once the courtroom was packed full of reporters last friday she decided that it was not long enough and if she had had the ability to she would have given me ten years in this post nine eleven atmosphere that we find ourselves in we have been losing our civil liberties incrementally over the last decade to the point where we don't even realize how much of a police state the united states has become you know ten years ago the thought of the national security agency spying on american citizens and intercepting their emails would have been anathema to americans and now it's just part of normal business. the idea that that our government would be using drone aircraft to assassinate american citizens who have never seen the inside of a courtroom who have never been charged with a crime and have not had due process which is their constitutional right would have

been unthinkable and it's something now that happens every every so often every few weeks every few months and there is no public outrage i think this is a very dangerous development well john kiriakou was also a guest on abbe barnes breaking the set here on r t don't miss the extensive interview details of the case and its implications later this hour. do you think that the the real people who oversaw codified torture john yoo alberto gonzales and donald rumsfeld shouldn't they be the ones sitting in prison john think they should be the ones and there are others even if you just put aside the people who actually did the day to day torture what about the people who conceived of the policy and who implemented the policy where the attorneys that papered over it with with crazed legal analysis or the man who who destroyed evidence of the torture in the tapes.

france is howling its military mission against islamist rebels in mali a success but the three week long intervention has also created more havoc in the conflict torn country and some chilling stories are emerging as a local reporter gonzalo watcha told r.t. . so that out of one of us as betty ellis the war became a real nightmare for the people of this small city in the sago region it was one of the first places bombed by french warplanes before more jihadist overright sweeping south towards the capital bamako the french intervention left a pile of debris and ashes that's just the visible traces of the war they left it civilians who were left with the scars that will last a lifetime one family paid a deep price for this conflict against the islamist terrorists one of the family sons was killed by a jihadist soldier inside his own home. late on monday my brother was attacked by

a group of militants the ridge children among them he started running and got back into our house but they followed him one of the children fired at him but minutes and then another insurgent shot him inside the house my brother fell and was riddled with bullets we laid his body in the house we couldn't bury him because we were afraid to go outside. afaik just me this is just one example of the terror that the conflict is putting mali and civilians through plague and the weakest the most no one was surprised when india bali once jihadist troops arrived it was discovered that the majority of the military were heavily armed child soldiers. the french back mali and government forces are increasingly accused of atrocities during the conflict with the rebels on r t dot com you will find some exclusive images allegedly showing evidence of war crimes by the troops there we also have more stories from people on the ground about how they're living through the western led battle against islamist. u.s.

president barack obama's pick for the country's next defense secretary has gone out of his way to persuade the senate he's the right man for the jump when attacked from his previous use and statements at the confirmation hearing chuck hagel made it clear he will act in accordance with white house policies his candidacy is approved or he's going to listen to the session which brought some heated discussion but little hope of change. chuck hagel bent backwards to show how mainstream his views are the senators kept accusing him of not being mainstream enough and they kept using the word mainstream over and over again during this hearing chuck hagel has walked back on a number of positions he had taken earlier he kept apologizing again and again and chuck hagel went to great lengths to show that he is in no way going to challenge washington's core foreign policy beliefs as one of the senators put it it was quite an exhausting hearing considering the senators were asking almost the same questions and roughly eighty percent of them had to do with chuck hagel previous

statements on israel and iran there was so much mentioning of israel that at some point they were confirming him as secretary of defense for israel i couldn't count how many times he said all options are on the table with regards to iran again and again saying a strike on iran is an option an option that he had previously called irresponsible by the way here's what chuck hagel kept repeating throughout the hearing get the united nations behind you get the international sanctions behind you keep military options on the table if the military option is your only option it's the only option one of the senators pointed out during the hearing that in a private conversation senator hagel recently told him that he thought sanctions didn't work and previously chuck hagel voted against sanctions but today's chuck hagel as we found out during this hearing is for sanctions to those who believe mr haye go was in favor of direct negotiations with iran as he had previously claimed

he was he offered a correction a very vague one he tried to blur his response as much as he could here's what he said i don't have a problem with engaging i think great powers engaging in gauge mint is clearly in our interest that's not negotiation engagement is not appeasement engagement is not sure under so no direct negotiations with iran here's another example of how chuck hagel had to walk back on some of his previous statements at one time he said and this is become a famous quote the political reality is that the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here i've always argued against some of the dumb things they do because i don't think it's in the interest of is world and of quote. this confirmation hearing noted that i. that i should have used another term and i'm sorry and i regret i didn't do your use of intimidation. i should have used influence. i think would have been more appropriate i should not have

said dumb or stupid. because i understand appreciate there are different views in these things it was like torture watching the hearing because it seemed as if the senators were not there to question chuck hagel but they were there to break him because they kept going back to his previous statements and pushing and pushing until he said what they wanted to hear and he did it so whoever thought chuck hagel was going to offer a new outlook on u.s. foreign policy after this hearing would seriously doubt that. but we're always interested in your view on the topics we cover head to r.t. dot com and vote in our online poll today let us know what you think hegel stance on iran why you think i should say has become more hawkish here's a look at the options were offering first it could be a genuine chance in of position a ploy perhaps to counter criticism of being anti is rally israeli doesn't matter

he won't have influence on iran policy and proves his own claim no one stands up to the quote jewish lobby this so far is how the numbers are divided almost half of voters think that almost half of voters think i should say that it is his giving in to the press or a third believe his opinion doesn't make a difference anyway just the it's just a ploy to get the get the job and only a tiny majority thinks that he is genuinely in fact change his position like i said head on to r.t. dot com and have your say. well whatever prompted the change in haggles rhetoric many experts believe even if he wants to change u.s. foreign policy i'll struggle to do so and president obama was elected in two thousand and a we you know the same kind of hope to mizzen was there with shutting down get mo and ending these wars and fighting the right kind of wars but then we find out when you know after the deal is done after the elections are over the nomination process

is over we continue with our war footing around the world no matter what the politicians come before those cameras and tell you what the key factors are that we need to take care of it be a social safety nets or the economy or or jobs being created in this country the united states will always have money for two things you can be rest assured bakers and bullets we already see the headlines coming out of the mainstream media talking about the sequester and how this is going to get our military we will have nonstop propaganda being a bombarded out of the people the fear of reducing the budget of the military so i'm absolutely confident that whoever is secretary of defense will have a very very loose pocketbook to spend to keep spending us into having. a rocket carrying a communications satellite has fallen into the pacific ocean shortly after blasting off from a sea base launch site it's reported the rocket went off course immediately after takeoff from or i'm now joined by our tease you go out of his skin out in the

studio you go or tell us how this all happened well the rocket with a u.s. communications satellite on board blasted off from the odyssey floating platform but it went off course almost straight away and its engines were then switched off and it did into the pacific somewhere along the quieter and it all happened less than a minute after blast off why was it launched from a platform in the middle of the ocean well first of all on the equator the earth's rotation speed gives an additional boost to rockets which makes them carry more weight and when it comes to steel rodgers besides just looking awesome while there are advantages and disadvantages alike you've got so many launching spots to choose from and the there's a minimal risk of rockets falling down on inhabited areas but waves could be a problem in fact there is speculation that this could be that piece now so you are

just an international project which includes russia the united states ukraine and norway they've been working together since ninety ninety five there's been thirty four successful launches but this was supposed to be the first one this year and unfortunately field people it's kind of bring us the latest on that story thanks for you for that. well still ahead for you this hour here on our tube a catholic church in germany loses worshippers that's after more and more alleged cases of child abuse by priests hit the headlines. plus we report on the risks of genetically modified food but why its main producers might not have anything to worry about that and more after a short break. the . world. series technology innovation

called the list of elements from around russia we've gone to the future or covered . you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so poorly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day.

led mission. critical should free in-store charges free. arrangement three. three. three. the old free. video. of free. live. the way our system currently live. live.

live. live. wealthy british. markets. live. happening to the global economy. you're with r t live from moscow syria and iran are threatening to retaliate

against israel for a rare air strike on syrian territory syria claims israeli warplanes hit a military research center near damascus killing two while the u.s. says the jets targeted a military convoy heading for neighboring lebanon paul the slayer is monitoring developments from tel aviv. the syrian ambassador to lebanon did say that it was not clear when ever tell you would happen and that it was up to the powers that be to decide on such decisive action but he did say that it was an option and that it was and would be a surprise now the iranian deputy foreign minister has also stated that this israeli attack has serious implications for the israeli city of tel aviv and those are indeed quite harsh warnings what we understand from syria from syrian sources is that the israelis hit a research center not far from the capital city of damascus and that at least two unsigned workers were killed there are also reports that the strike hit

a convoy of weapons that was making its way from syria to lebanon and now washington reportedly was warned by israel of its intention to strike inside syria this kind of comment coming from a high ranking american official who has spoken on condition that he not be named it is important to mention that a couple of months ago iran's revolutionary guard did say that assad had friends in the region who had not yet entered the fray the quote was that these planes were poised to strike out in case there was an intervention in syria but we have no comment yet from tel aviv there also has been no comment from washington moscow has said if indeed these raids did strike inside syrian territory it is a gross violation of the united nations charter iranian academic and political analyst mohammad marandi says israel should take your guns warning of repercussions seriously. but it's important is that the united states knew about their strike

before hand they did nothing about it the european union as usual so is silent about it there is no condemnation for killing syrians two for bombing the country and of course iran will defend syrian sovereignty the iranians have many means to hurt the israelis and to punish the israelis it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be involved directly they could. support countries or bodies that could make life for israelis more difficult now to other international news this hour an explosion killed twenty five and left more than one hundred injured at the mexico city headquarters of pemex the state owned oil company the figures have been confirmed on the company's twitter account some people reportedly remain trapped inside the building local media say a gas leak may have caused the blast in september an explosion at the company's

natural gas facility in northern mexico left thirty. government opposition in egypt is calling for further mass protests on friday that's just by reaching an agreement with the muslim brotherhood to renounce the violence at demonstrations across the country condemnation came at a meeting attended by government officials as well as the heads of liberal and secular opposition movements at least sixty people have been killed in demonstrations marking the second anniversary of president mubarak's overthrow. a standoff between police and a man holding a five year old child hostage in a bunker in borel alabama has entered its fourth day the boy was taken earlier this week when a gunman shot dead a school bus driver after he refused to let the youngster off the vehicle the suspected kidnapper is a retired sixty five year old truck driver the boy is apparently on farms.

now in germany worshippers are turning their backs on the catholic church with the number of attendees falling rapidly a perceived lack of action over claims of child abuse is just one reason earlier this month the church dropped an investigation into alleged sexual abuse cases committed by priest you may find some of the details and peter all verbs report disturbing. the abuse of trust the destruction of faith the theft of innocence. in one nine hundred seventy nine i was invited to his house he locked the doors and forced me to drink what i now know was alcohol. he asked me what i thought of his penis which was a wrecked then the priest made me perform oral sex on him. the catholic church in germany is facing a crisis attendances dropped significantly over the past few years according to the

central committee of german catholics one hundred eighty thousand parishioners stopped going to mass in twenty ten alone many citing church hierarchy unwillingness to do enough about claims of abuse like the ones made by wilfred the priest at the center of this particular scandal is now being moved to a different parish while this church where its alleged abuses took place remains closed to worshippers but just how difficult is it to bring a criminal prosecution in cases like this if those people go to court now it's very difficult to get to a sentence because the witnesses sometimes died in between the memory has got lost and so those attempts to get to have a trial usually fail christine vi first had been in charge of an extensive study into abuse in the german catholic church dating back as far as nineteen forty five his research claims that the church destroyed files on priests involved in abuse up

to ten years also that twelve hundred victims were paid hush money not to reveal what happened to them he was dismissed after a dispute with senior clergy over what information would be made public the scandal that this research is no not going to be finished. it's causing problems to them as well now they're losing members because of the new headlines of the last few weeks there are those within the church that recognize the importance of transparency if lapsed catholics but to be brought back into the flock a woman. thing and when we do not make things clear there will always be an aftertaste that something is being covered up this will harm attempts to get people into church because it is a bad foundation for trust and all belief is based on trust. and one for jaime for wilfrid that trust has been lost he says he will never set foot in

a church again he's committed to getting compensation for himself and those others who claim they were abused by people who were supposed to be in a position of responsibility peter all over r.t. germany. there's more news for you online including on guard that says north korea allegedly imposes martial law urging its army to prepare for war heads are to dot com to see if the korean peninsula is on the brink of a military conflict. plus internet users be where millions of devices are now in danger of being easy pay for hackers due to a software malfunction that's been known about for some time. activists

have protested outside a shareholder meeting at the headquarters of one of america's notoriously notorious i should say genetically modified food producers monsanto producers demanded more transparency in the company's labeling research and business practices amid concerns over the safety of g.m. crops but add a meeting or a shareholder in months ago believes as long as such companies financially support politicians any risk could be brushed under the carpet. these chemicals may be what's causing higher rates of cancer in industrialized nations nations across the globe we know that it causes tumors in rats that were fed and long term food studies last year i was it will speak during the meeting and this meeting is closed

to the public and we one of the things are asking for is in the future this live streamed people around the world care about what's going into the food they may not want to own monsanto stock i only bought the stock so i could speak the share or meaning the company knows already about there are genetically modified crops which many say food activists believe make us more reliant on herbicides and chemicals that the company also sells the genome companies give heed massive donations to politicians on an annual basis they are very active in the political system so by spending tens of millions of dollars even hundreds of millions of dollars on elections. that it's not the politicians are not going to prioritize rejecting crops coming up in a couple of minutes for you abby martin breaking the. you

know i can kind of sort of understand the mindset of an evil dictator i have trouble understanding what is going on or maybe not going on in the minds of the terrified cogs who believe all the propaganda give up all their rights for the illusion of safety to coach jerry seinfeld who are these people well maybe some of them may be working at your local school braindead bureaucracy zombies at a pennsylvania school suspended a kindergartner note kindergartner as a terrorist threat because she threatened to shoot another student with a gun that shoots soap bubbles i guess this was all a mix up because the girl she wanted to shoot didn't understand that it was in reference to bubbles and not bullets children in kindergarten can often misunderstand things but the administration of the school seems to be no.